


theperfectmatch.com

by cherrybombwithteeth



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-31
Updated: 2013-05-31
Packaged: 2017-12-13 14:13:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/825216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrybombwithteeth/pseuds/cherrybombwithteeth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gerard and Frank are both single parents. Mikey convinces his brother to go on an online dating website. Gerard is skeptical about the idea at first, and Frank feels the same. Eventually, they start talking and end up liking each other and wanting to meet. (#38 in <a href="http://everythingsfrerardnothinghurts.tumblr.com/prompts">here</a>)</p>
            </blockquote>





	theperfectmatch.com

**Author's Note:**

> It was written months ago and it was meant to be published by the end of March, but according to some serious meltdown I’ve been through (like most of us, really) I wasn’t able to even look at it, not to mention finish it. Fic was corrected by amazing Tulia (find her [here](http://kingdomofthefish.tumblr.com/)) who had to fight against my non-existing English skills. It’s still not perfect though, because I was an idiot while accepting her corrections (hope you’ll survive anyway). And I'm not a native english-speaker, so please have mercy on me. 
> 
> Oh, and thanks Gran for ruining my life and making me read frerards all over again, love you.
> 
> Now available in Russian! Click [here](https://ficbook.net/readfic/3509455)!

Gerard’s not sulking.

Mikey knows that, because contrary to popular belief – it’s actually a complex process. And surely it takes some time (Gerard has none of that), to go and figure out what pisses him off. Gerard hasn’t done that in years actually, even though he used to be excellent at ranting.

Even now, as they’re having their weekly marathon of horror movies, Mikey realizes that his brother is probably more concentrated on making a list of thing to do tomorrow morning, than on watching the mass of zombies flooding the screen. 

It’s not like he’s unhappy, but neither is he overjoyed, Mikey thinks. Gerard’s day is routine, he wakes up (usually late, which stresses the shit out of him), tries to fix a breakfast that is maybe a tiny bit more nutritious than a bowl of cereal, wakes up his 5 years old daughter, dresses her (or actually tries to convince her that the-whatever-colour-dress is exactly what she wants to wear today), drives her to kindergarten (while she eats her breakfast, because they’re fucking late), drives home, tries to actually work for some time before the deadline for his projects hits him all of sudden (it’s always all of sudden, no matter what he does), tries to convince his manager that he’s on top of everything, picks up Chloe from kindergarten, tries not to make a watery mush of their pasta (thankfully she doesn’t seem to mind as she talks with a full mouth about something she was doing at school with other kids), he plays with her, tries to clean up a bit and before he knows it, it’s 8 pm, so he tucks her into bed and tries to work a bit more, but he’s too tired so he falls asleep on the desk. And there is no space to put in anything more.

Mikey thinks, his brother must be some sort of superhero to do all of those things by himself. 

And that is the biggest problem, because he doesn’t notice.

*

Gerard usually starts his day’s work by checking his e-mail box and usually there’s a friendly reminder from his manager requesting he finish up the next chapter of his book by the end of the week, and yes, the showing at the gallery is tomorrow. But what he finds in his mailbox today, makes him want someone’s head hang in his bedroom.

“Mikey, WHAT THE FUCK?” he demands as soon as his brother picks up his phone. In response he only hears a giggle. “No, seriously, get this thing down. What were you thinking? Is Alicia there? Is she fucking laughing? I hate both of you.” he states and doesn’t throw out his cell phone through the window, as he desires to, because he wants some answers. 

“Well, don’t tell me you didn’t actually think of this” Mikey says like it explains anything. “We did you a favour.”

“Did you have fun, assholes? Great, now delete it, I don’t wanna see it.”

“Gerard, please. You need this.”

“What on the earth makes you think this way, Mikey? I’m perfectly fine.” he says sternly as he stares angrily at the happy picture of him on the screen.

“I’m not saying you’re not” Mikey tries reasoning with him. Gerard just rolls his eyes “it’s just… you could do better, you know? Don’t you think about that sometimes?”

“Mikey, we’ve had this conversation thousands of times. Get this thing down or I will end you.” he promises.

“Just fucking give it a try!”

“If I wanted to date someone, I would. And it’s a fucking dating website, it’s fucking ridiculous” he says and hangs up.

*

He refreshes the website every ten minutes and his profile’s still up, so he considers if the place where a bust of Napoleon (what the fuck) currently sits would be good for Mikey’s head, and if their mother would be very mad at him for killing that piece of shit.

He forgets about his master plan when his daughter gets back from pre-school. She tells him the story of a lion that does karate and the chocolate cookie that eats him. And because it makes perfect sense, he draws Cookie: Lion Eater; then remembers the pancakes he was making and rescues them from burning.

Later on they go to the city, since Chloe needs new shoes, because all of hers became too small and the one pair that still fit, had gone missing (in the fog of total mystery). They purchase cute blue ballerinas with a bow, then got to a bookstore for new bed-time stories for her (even though she insists daddy’s made up stories are better, what flatters him very much) and some music magazines for Gerard and then he remembers they’ve run out of milk and tomatoes, so they end up at the grocery story. It all goes smoothly, but he can’t help but to notice. Notice the young man looking for wedding shoes, a couple browsing “design your home” magazines, dads chasing after kids while the mothers get stuck in vegetable aisle. Fucking Mikey, he thinks.

He feels a tiny hand tightening its grip on his hand. He looks down at Chloe who stares at him curiously.

“Wanna ice cream?” she asks.

“Me or you?” he smiles. “Plus, we’re already at the checkout.”

She just points at something behind the shop’s window. He notices the ice cream booth on the other side of the street. “We will have pistachio” she says and he can’t help but to smile, because that’s his favourite.

When they get back home it’s late and he’s tired so he lets Chloe off without supper and lets her watch TV instead. He starts his laptop and opens the website Mikey sent him the link to, and his profile is still there.

*

The next day he’s too busy during the first couple of hours to figure out how to kill Mikey. But when he’s finished with the final touches to the next chapter of the book he’s currently working on and sends it to his publisher and then picks up clothes for the showing at the gallery in the evening, he starts to think about it.

He goes to theperfectmatch.com again, and decides that he may at least read what his shit brother and fiancé wrote about him. The website doesn’t really look bad, it looks professionally, doesn’t have many ads and everything is organized and nicely designed. 

The first thing he sees on his profile is a picture of him taken the weeks after “Every Snowflake’s Different” his first children’s book he wrote which turned out to be a huge success. He would probably have picked the same picture himself, if he’d wanted to create a profile on dating site. He has to take a breath before he explores more. There are two more pictures of him, one from his first trip to California with his daughter to visit his aunt Nancy; he’s in his favourite Hawaiian shirt and drinking some bullshit virgin drink and making faces; the other one is probably one of the thousands Mikey shot after he got his new camera two months ago and forced Gerard to model for him. They’re all decent and he’s thankful Alicia was a part of this crime.

First there is some basic information on him; height, beliefs, origin and other bullshit; as well as his marital status (never been married) and parental status (has a kid), for which he is grateful.

There is also a short bio which refers to his job and interests which is simple, but very neat because Mikey is good with words and notices things worth writing down, he would never think of.  
It all actually looks good, but it doesn’t make him want to kill Mikey any less.

He black mails his brother for the rest of the week.

*

Frank gets back from work at some idiotic hour like 11 pm, because he had to work (well, he didn’t since he’s co-owner) the night shift and he’s exhausted. Right now he is at his mom’s, where he left his daughter at noon. They’re both asleep now and he tries to be as quiet as possible. Obviously, he doesn’t live with his mom’s anymore, he’s 26, for fuck’s sake, but it doesn’t hurt to come here as often as possible, especially since there’s always spinach lasagna waiting for him in the oven. Frank thinks it’s ridiculous that he cooks all day and doesn’t have time to stuff anything in his mouth. He also thinks his mom is a saint. 

When he’s finished, he goes to Rosie’s room (she has her own room at his mom’s house and not yet at his apartment, Frank feels like an asshole) to grab her sleeping in a sort of carrycot. He knows he probably should stay the night since it’s more suitable for all three of them, but he doesn’t want to by any more of a burden to his mom. Speaking of whom; meets Frank in the hall greeting him with a yawn. He kisses her cheek and smiles.

“Was she behaving?” 

Linda rolls her eyes. “What do you think? She’s your daughter after all” she laughs. 

Frank nods. He knows. 

“Thanks, ma. You should rest, though, ya know? I may use you some other time.”

“Just wanted to make sure my other baby is doing fine.”

Frank wants to know when he became second place, but doesn’t argue. “I am. Just tired” he shrugs. “Hopefully I’ll manage a little sleep” he grins.

“Okay, have a good night” she says, gives him a light hug and disappears in her bedroom. 

Frank drives carefully to his home; he doesn’t trust his eyes anymore. He puts the kid into her bed (that still stands in the hall) and she wakes up, but only for a minute or two, like she wants to say hello or something and Frank thinks it’s cute. He really wants to clean up a bit, because his place is a mess (well, it isn’t, but he is obsessed), but when he goes to his bedroom to leave his jacket, he kind of just stays there till morning.

*

After breakfast they’re just hanging out in the living room. Frank tries to show Rosie how to play with toys, but she still has an attention span of like 5 seconds and no idea what is going on around her. It’s okay, when she gets older they will rock the shit out of the toys, he knows that. Right now, she’s just crawling on the carpet, chasing fluffy balls that magically move as she tries to catch them and bite them.

Frank opens his laptop, which was luckily lying around, but soon realizes he has to get up anyway to find the charger. In the meantime his two pugs get interested in Rosie’s actions and help the balls run away. She doesn’t even get mad, just tries to chase them too. 

First thing is always e-mail box, facebook, unhealthy number of entertainment websites (which make him dumber than he was before) and then the online dating website he registered to a couple of weeks ago; because he wastes enough time on the Internet already and he doesn’t look like a complete desperate.

It was his idea to register and he had been given a hard time when he mentioned that to Gabe, and because Gabe was the co-owner of his business, Frank has to put up with his shit whether he wants to or not. Gabe is the type of person that everyone wants to be with and doesn’t understand the concept of someone having problems finding a relationship. Well, Frank doesn’t exactly have a problem, but he’s gay and most guys are not so willing to play a dad and he really doesn’t need assholes in his life. Searching in real life is tiring, and takes extremely long and has a chance for disappointment and online dating is simply more systematic. Gabe wouldn’t listen, but then Janine, their waitress, piped in to say she met her fiancé (who Gabe worships) online, so he shut up and Frank felt like a winner.

To some point, anyway. He’s been registered on theperfectmatch.com for approximately 5 weeks now and so far – no luck. Sure he’s been corresponding with some dudes, but most of them turned out to be horny bastards (Frank has nothing against hook ups, he’s just looking for something else), girls (what the fuck, it’s in bold, he’s gay, having an adorable little creature that drools on his carpet, does not change that), lame and illiterate idiots or with a face that looks like it’s been hit with a brick.

Frank didn’t know that it was such a rare thing to be male, able to write and express his thoughts and have a nose in the right place. But apparently, it is. 

He closes the message box, because he’s not in the mood for that and goes through the recommendations instead. 

It’s usually he who starts the conversation. He assumes it’s because people are too intimidated to make the first move, even if it is just the Internet and it’s not like someone’s going to hunt you down. It’s also possible his profile picture scares people away. Well, his face does look like it may split in two from so much grinning and his tattoos are visible. Or maybe it’s because he has a child, which makes things even more complicated. But he’s not changing it, people should know right away with whom they’re dealing with.  
It’s probably the third or fourth time he’s going through the suggestions. It’s a big and popular website and almost every day there are some new faces. It’s just that no one catches his attention.

Except when someone does.

*

Gerard decides to ignore the whole thing, in spite of Mikey’s badly made puns and everything. He’s doing pretty well for a week, but then he can’t anymore, because there’s something in from theperfectmatch.com.

Gerard thinks he’s not going to betray himself if he opens it. Maybe it’s confirmation that the profile has finally been deleted?

As he scans the message, he knows it’s not.

To: TheRealBruceWayne@theperfectmatch.com  
Re: Someone loved your profile!

_Dear TheRealBruceWayne,_

_bouncingsoulexpressed interest in your profile. He actually loved it so much, he sent you a message! For more details, please visit bouncingsoul’s profile and your message box. Wishing you luck!  
The Perfect Match.com team._

He almost automatically reaches for his cell phone.

“First of all” he says. “What the fuck is wrong with you to come up with such nickname?!”

He only hears a laugh. “I can’t believe you realized that only just now!”

“I fucking ignored the entire profile, because I asked you to delete it! Give me the password, motherfucker.”

“No, I won’t, because you’ll delete it.”

Gerard wants to tell him, that’s the fucking point, but he knows better. “No. I won’t. Someone wrote to me.”

“Someone… ALICIA!!!”

Gerard wants to bang his head over the keyboard, but he learnt the hard way that it does hurt. He hears Mikey’s heavy steps on the stairs and then:

“ALICIA! Oh my god. Someone wrote to Gerard! As in through the dating website, I mean” he says and Gerard hears a sound that may not be human, but he thinks it’s Alicia squealing.

“Just give me the fucking password or I’ll never read it!” he yells over them talking and ignoring him completely.

“You will. I’m on my way to you!”

“What? It’s private!!!” he screams, but he’s met with silence.

*

Mikey doesn’t let him know the password, but he concludes it has his dog’s name and some idiotic numbers at the end. 

“There you go” Mikey says, but then he comes up with something else. “Or maybe not. I’ll print it for you.”

“MIKEY.”

“Okay, okay… Just don’t delete it, alright?”

Gerard rolls his eyes, because he can’t take it anymore. Mikey stands up, so Gerard can sit in his armchair, but he doesn’t exactly move from his spot, he’s fucking lurking.

“Don’t you have any sense of privacy, Mikey Way?” Gerard scowls at him.

Mikey sits down on the couch in defeat.

Gerard clicks on the title of the message, which says: “are you fucking serious” and reads:

To: TheRealBruceWayne  
From: bouncingsoul

_The thing is that your face is cruelly cute (people are not allowed to have such noses, did your mom know that?) and you have probably the most beautiful smile in the whole world and you quoted my favourite book and the music you listen to…! And I was like, holy fuck, that dude is FUCKING PERFECT._

_But then,_

_TheRealBruceWayne_

_Explain yourself or I will lose my faith in humanity._

Gerard has a seriously hard time trying to hide the smirk forming on his lips. Mikey notices anyway. Gerard allows him to read the message and he makes him compose a replay right away.

*

Frank is about to leave for work when he decides to check on his inbox again. He happily notices that a guy he wrote to a day ago has replied. He crosses his fingers in hope it’s not another disappointment.

To: bouncingsoul  
From: TheRealBruceWayne

_I really need to get rid of the Napoleon bust sitting in my bedroom (creepy, weird AND NOT MINE) and I think my brother’s head would be a great replacement._

_The thing is, you see, my mom had no idea that noses like mine are not allowed, however she should have known that her second offspring was going to be a disaster. I’m personally very skeptical about this entire online dating and it’s not even the point, I’m perfectly fine being single, but apparently my brother thinks otherwise, so he set up this profile (along with his fiancé, who is a great woman, but under bad influence). And well, everything looks quite decent, so I chose to ignore its existence and only after you wrote to me (which was super cute, ignore my rant) I noticed the username._

_And I swear batmen were seen in the same room as me._

_Let me know if the story was good enough for you (even though I don’t have another one)._

_Oh, and please call me Gerard until I figure out how to change this username (into something probably equally lame, but less embarrassing)._

Gabe shots him curious looks for the whole day, but Frank decides to keep it for himself. At least for now.

*

Gerard tries to pretend he’s not nervous about what the bouncingsoul guy may, or may not write back. He even has second thoughts about the message he sent, because he’s a paranoid creep like that. Not that he really cares, anyway.

In the meantime; he re-reads bouncingsoul’s profile for second, third and fourth time, for no particular reason. He just doesn’t have experience with stuff like this and like a normal human being, he’s just curious, he explains that to Chloe the next morning, though deep inside he knows it’s more than that. She just nods and stuffs the rest of the ‘sammich’ in her mouth. 

Gerard’s not even sure if the whole thing is proper. He hasn’t dated anyone since… well, since he got Chloe. She doesn’t quite realize yet that having both parents is the norm, and hasn’t asked where her mom went. Gerard can’t even start to imagine what would happen if he brought someone home. Especially if that person was male.

He tells all that to Mikey who just shrugs.

“Kids aren’t judgmental like adults, you know? She only cares if you’re happy” Mikey replies as he grabs movies from Gerard’s cabinet like if they were his own. 

*

It’s late evening when he gets the message from bouncingsoul guy. Gerard tries to take it cool, except he almost flips.

To: TheRealBruceWayne  
From: bouncingsoul

_Honestly, that’s probably the only acceptable explanation. And just so you know, your brother has a twisted sense of humor (though I may want to sent him flowers anyway)._

_Wait, did you just say you go to comic cons? Say you do! (I’m overly excited and not even sorry) Actually a deliveryman came like 2 hours ago with a costume for my kiddo, cause we’re going to Big Apple next weekend. Though it was difficult to find something other than hot dog or worm (she doesn’t need a costume to look like a worm, she’s 8 months old). So we’re going as Harry Potter and Hedwig (most active owl in the world, I’m telling you)._

_Uhm. So what do you do in life?_

_I’m co-owner of a tiny vegan restaurant and I cook there. It used to be a delivery business, but now it has an actual place, so I’m over the moon. What about you?  
xoxo Frank_

So just like that, they start to message each other every day.

Gerard tries to be smug about it, but he just can’t stop smiling to himself, and Mikey (because he’s a cruel little brother like that) teases him about it. 

They talk about favourite comic books (because Gerard does go to comic cons and still secretly draws stories, but mostly for Chloe), books in general (which starts a flood of quotes from Lord of The Rings and then badly made pick up lines like “I last longer than Boromir” or "Honey, you’re like Balroc – smokin’ hot!” ) movies (it seems they can’t shut up about those), careers (Frank is immensely impressed and Gerard blushes for the rest of the day), food (Frank’s so passionate that Gerard imagines him talking about food as better than any porn he’s ever seen) and kids (obviously, even though they usually don’t mean to).

Gerard is so impressed by the way Frank writes to him, it always looks so easy and effortless, that he doesn’t know when, but he starts to relax enough to tell him things that he usually just keeps to himself or mentions to Mikey. He’s not sure if it’s the Internet connection that makes it easier or the fact it’s Frank. Gerard discovers that he doesn’t really care.

He also can’t imagine his mornings without Frank anymore.

Mikey may have been right, nevertheless, Gerard’s not going to tell him that.

*

Frank is the middle of frying eggplants when Gabe comes to harass him.

“So when you’re gonna to sleep with him” he says, and it’s not really a question, and Frank almost drops the frying pan on his foot.

“What the fuck, Gabe!?” he screams. “I haven’t even seen him yet!”

Gabe throws his hands in the air like that explains anything. “Exactly” he yelps. “What are you, becoming a virgin?”

Frank wants to tell Gabe that one cannot become a virgin, then wants to hit him with the mentioned frying pan and finally settles with just sighing.

“It’s not that easy.”

Gabe rolls eyes at him. “You two have been talking talk for about a month now, like every day, am I right?” Frank nods. “And you’ve been on cloud fucking nine since the first day. You don’t shut up about him. You’re like two halves of an apple or whatever bullshit. So why haven’t you met him yet?”

“Because it may be different when we meet and I don’t want to disappoint him.”

Gabe glares at him for about a minute, then throws hands in the air again and just leaves.

When Frank comes home with Rosie that evening and opens his laptop, there is a message from Gerard.

To: bouncingsoul  
From: TheRealBruceWayne

_Sure, 4pm is good. Can’t wait to see you!  
Xoxo G._

Because apparently, he’d sent Gerard an invitation for coffee the next day.

Words cannot describe the cruel things he’s going to do to Gabe.

*

Frank hadn’t know that his mind could be so inventive in the matter of tortures, but he discovers it actually is, when it’s Saturday 2:30 pm and his mom doesn’t answer his calls (he’s not surprised though, she knows he has a day off, so she says she needs one too) and he doesn’t trust his friends to leave any of his dogs with them, not to mention a child, so he’s pretty much freaking out. 

He also doesn’t know what to wear, which is stupid he thinks, but it actually isn’t since he’s ready to leave in sweatpants. No that it really matters, since Rosie probably will cover everything he wears in drool or vomit or some other fantastic substance. 

He walks his dogs a bit earlier than usually, which surprises them, but they don’t really mind. He packs some food for Rosie (he probably won’t use it anyway, he feels in his bones that this date is going to be a catastrophe), diapers, toys and shitload of other things (he doesn’t really go anywhere for long periods of time with Rosie, so he doesn’t have packing her stuff practiced yet). He settles on beat up denim jeans, star wars t-shirt, eco leather jacket and sneakers that he cleaned (a week ago, but they’re still good to go, he thinks).

He finally leaves at 3:40pm, but it’s ok, since the café Gabe wrote about is just around the corner and he arrives there earlier than planned, but Gerard is already there.  
Frank notices him sitting by the window by the other side of café. He’s looking at the street, but he surely hasn’t seen Frank yet. Gerard’s wearing a buttoned up dress shirt with a fucking tie and Frank thinks he looks like an idiot and considers leaving, but as he approaches he notices the beat up sneakers, and sighs with relief. 

“Hi” he says when he’s at the table, maneuvering the stroller.

Gerard immediately looks up and studies his face for a bit longer than Frank’s expecting. Then he gets up and for a second they don’t know what to do, but Frank decides to go for it, and pulls him into a hug. Any other way of greeting is weird in his opinion.

“Hi” Gerard finally says, his voice is a bit higher than Frank has expected, but he likes it. “I didn’t know, we were going to have company” he continues, though it doesn’t sound like a reproach. He bends over the pram to say hello, but Rosie’s managed to fall asleep in the meantime. 

“Yeah, well. It was kind of last minute situation? I didn’t have anyone to leave her with” Frank explains and sits down.

Gerard cocks an eyebrow at him. “Your mom cancelled?”

“She didn’t answer my calls in the first place” he says and bites his lip wondering if he should mention Gabe or not. 

Gerard laughs a little. “I took me like three hours of begging to persuade Mikey to take care of Chloe, you know? She likes to make his and Alicia’s life a living hell. But I told him it’s all his fault anyway, so he had to agree.”

It seems that Gerard is a natural talker, not only through e-mails, Frank thinks. But only for couple of moments, because after the coffees they ordered arrived, an awkward silence falls between them. Frank tries to go back to a topic they touched in last the e-mail he remembers, but it’s not as easy as he thought it would be. Finally he decides to ask about Gerard’s book, since surely it’s in his comfort zone.

He’s not mistaken, because Gerard beams at him as he starts to talk. 

“It’s basically the story of two monsters” Gerard says, „one has green fur and other has blue skin. I kind of... uhm, made drawings for the book? Anyway, it’s set in a winter and the planet they’re from doesn’t have snow, so they’re really curious about the shapes of snowflakes and everything, so it’s like a kinda shitty metaphor for people’s personalities and….” he stops all of sudden to rub his temple. Frank realized that Gerard’s face became all red. “It really does sound shitty when I talk about it…”

Gerard looks down at his hands and bites his lower lip. It occurs to Frank that the conversation isn’t going well because they can’t find the right topic, or maybe Gerard’s not interested in him. It’s because Gerard is just horribly nervous. Frank reaches out his hand to grab Gerard’s and squeezes it lightly. Gerard seems confused, but he doesn’t move his hand.

“It’s okay” he reassures him.

Gerard takes a deep breath and shakes his head. 

“Oh, come on” Frank says. “I’m an idiot who didn’t have the balls to actually invite you for a date. Gabe the asshole did it for me.”

Gerard looks up, eyes wide and forehead creased.

“So for last month I was rambling about you all the time and Gabe goes nuts when I’m like that, so he sent an email from my account” Frank explains. “It doesn’t mean I didn’t want to see you, I really did.”

Gerard looks at him for a second with wide eyes. “So I’m not the only one who has a friend who interferes with my life a bit too much” he laughs and he visibly relaxes. “Oh, someone’s up!”

Rosie surely is, because she hits the mobile hanging over her with full force. Frank stands up to get her and it takes a minute for her to fully wake up, but she’s in talkative mood. Gerard takes her in his arms and Frank notices how easily he does it. He plays with her for couple of minutes until she loses her interest and states very clearly that she’s hungry.

He takes out the thermos (because he’s smart like that) and pours the milk into the bottle, spilling some on his pants (not so smart anymore). That’s fine, Frank thinks, well until Rosie spits some of it on his shirt.

“You’re not very public friendly kid” he complains.

Gerard laughs at him a little, but helps him find napkins. 

And all of sudden they’re not so awkward anymore (at least with each other) and Frank asks about the new Tim Burton and they easily talk for the next two hours, until Rosie decides it’s time to go.

Gerard walks them home and kisses his cheek goodbye and Frank can’t help but grin to himself for the rest of the day.

(and the next day too, Gabe is more cocky than usual).

*

“So how was it?” Mikey asks all of sudden, appearing in his office. Giving him keys to the house was a bad move after all, Gerard thinks.

“You’re an annoying little shit, has anyone told you that?”

“You’ve repeated that every day since I can remember” he replies and sits on couch, immediately grabbing one of magazines lying on the table next to him. “I could have thought you didn’t love me. Do you have any idea what an impact that could have had on my development as a kid?”

Gerard just gives him a look. “Yeah, I may have an idea.”

Mikey scowls at him. “You’re an asshole. So, how was it?”

Gerard sighs. “Okay. I guess.”

“Okay?” Mikey cocks an eyebrow at him. 

Gerard saves the file he’s working on and shuts the computer, to buy some time to think.

“I think maybe you were a bit right” he finally manages and expects Mikey to laugh at him, but he doesn’t. He just sits there waiting for the rest. “I still don’t think I was miserable all the time…”

“No. I thought you could do better in your life than this, I never meant it was bad or anything…”

Gerard nods thoughtfully at this. That was a bit of a revelation to him, though to be honest, he never spent much time thinking about it, anyway. 

“Maybe I didn’t notice. I mean, I never felt there was something missing? I mean, firstly there was anger and diapers, sleepless nights, fucking rehab…” he says and hides face in his hands because all of sudden it’s too much.

Mikey nods to himself, remembering why he set up Gerard’s profile in the first place. “You should finally do something for yourself, you know?”

“I don’t know if Frank…”

“If not Frank, then someone else. And if not dating, you can find yourself a hobby, that’s not watching Star Wars on your own.”

Gerard nods biting his lip. “Okay. I got your point.”

Mikey beams at him. “Great. Now. The date. How was it?”

Gerard doesn’t really have an option other than telling him the whole story.

*

In the morning Gerard thinks that he should write to Frank as soon as possible, so he won’t make himself out as an asshole. He thinks of which words to use while he prepares breakfast (three regular portions of cereal in one bowl), but nothing witty comes to mind.

“So. How was it?” Chloe asks and Gerard stops mid motion. She looks at him expectantly. Fucking Mikey Way, he thinks, he’s never going to leave her around him anymore.

“What do you have in mind?” he asks, setting her bowl in front of her and sitting on his usual chair.

“You and Frank” she says through a mouthful of cereal.

“Cool” he decides. “He and his little baby are very nice… What exactly has uncle Mikey told you about Frank?” he asks, because he’s sure he didn’t mention the date to her.

“That you’re friends” she says and Gerard sighs with relief. “Like Tommy’s dads.”

“Tommy’s… what?” he breathes out. He didn’t even know about Tommy’s parents. “We’re not there yet, though. What do you think of that anyway?”

She just shrugs. “Does he like Toy Story?”

“Frank… I don’t know. I haven’t asked him yet” he says and Chloe pulls a face, because it’s obviously the most important thing to know about someone. “But he totally looks like a Toy Story type of guy, you know?”

“Okay, then. Cool” she says and just like that, Gerard knows his daughter doesn’t really care if he likes another person and if that person is male.

*

When he finally gets round his computer to write a message it turns out that Frank beat him to it. 

To: TheRealBruceWayne  
From: bouncingsoul

_Thanks for tonight Gee, it was great! And I think we should totally meet again, but maybe this time I won’t let Gabe pick the place.  
You can come to Bullet’s after we close, let’s say about 9:30pm on Saturday and I’ll cook a dinner for us. _

_Let me know how it sounds to you._

_xoxFrnk_

*

By 8:30pm Gerard is completely ready to leave, but the restaurant is just a 10 minutes drive from his house, so he knows he probably shouldn’t yet and it makes him all jittery. He waits for Donna to tuck Chloe into bed, so he doesn’t have much to do either.

“Nervous?” she asks him, sitting next to him on the couch and reaching for the remote.

“I’m… I’m not quite sure what to think. That’s all.”

She just tilts her head and cocks an eyebrow at him. “Don’t sweat it. You’re over thinking. You should just allow yourself to enjoy it.”

“I know that” he smiles. “It’s not so easy sometimes, you know?”

“I do. But it’s been a while and you should give yourself a chance” she says quietly and sits closer to him and pulls him into a light embrace. “If after all this time you still think it was somehow your fault… you should know that this all you’re living now is your claim to fame, baby.”

Gerard looks at his mother in surprise. It’s not exactly an everyday situation when Donna Way vocalizes her emotions.

“I’m proud of you” she adds and messes up his hair. “It’s well after 9 already, you should get going.”

“Thanks ma” he says to her and gets up. 

Donna just shrugs and changes the channel. Just before he leaves, she gives him a thumb up.

*

Frank sees him through the window as he gets out of his car, which is parked opposite the restaurant, so he’s at the door to open it for him.

“Hi” he says beaming, and Gerard suddenly feels all stupid and jittery as if he was in primary school, but he can’t help his own smile. “Come on in, it’s warmer inside” Frank says stepping aside.

It’s the first time Gerard’s seen the restaurant and he has to admit that his artistic sense of beauty absolutely approves. It’s mostly black and white with accents of rough looking wood. It looks great, though it strongly contrasts with his mental image of Frank. Also, Frank doesn’t look like a chef at all.

“I must say I was expecting a chef’s hat and jacket .”

Frank laughs. “Is that some kink of yours?” he asks and gives him a look. In fact he looks like anything but a chef. He’s wearing a t-shirt and his arms are bare and Gerard can see tons and tons of tattoos and wonders if there are more on other parts of his body. “Don’t tell anyone, but I actually have to wear stuff like that for hygiene, but anyone who tries to take pics, ends up dead.”

“Then I’ll have to leave it for my imagination” he pouts and Frank just rolls his eyes.

Frank leads Gerard further into the restaurant where there’s a table set up with two seats, cutlery, plates and glasses. Frank pulls out a seat for him and disappears in the kitchen for couple of minutes. Gerard thinks he’s such a girl, because he has to bite his lip hard to suppress a nervous giggle. It’s irrational, considering the fact that he was really worried no more than twenty minutes ago when he was talking with his mom and now he’s so excited that his stomach turns. 

The next thing he knows is that all the lights go off, except the tiny one beside their table. 

“I made artichoke, red onion and rosemary risotto” says Frank, appearing behind his back. He puts both plates on the table and sits in front of Gerard. “I don’t usually make risotto this way, I was experimenting a little. Hope you don’t mind.”

Gerard shakes his head. “It looks insanely delicious, you know. I bet it tastes good” he says and takes a careful first bite. 

Frank does the same and looks expectantly at Gerard. 

“It’s heavenly” Gerard admits after he swallows. Frank laughs a little, but he looks content.

“Well, after almost 5 years of cooking for strangers you’d think I’d have gotten used to it, but I still get worried when someone tries my food.”

“You’re talking to a guy who burns his dinner at least two times per week. I had to turn off the fire alarm, because we had firefighters over for dinner more often than my mom which is not exactly a bad thing, because she’s even worse a cook than me.”

“Oh lord, I hope to meet your family one day, you all seem very special.”

Gerard grins at him in agreement. He puts some more food into his mouth and hums contently. 

“Oh, I forgot to bring wine. Wait a second.”

There’s a wave of panic going through Gerard’s spine. “I… uh… I don’t drink” he manages before Frank stands up.

“Oh, ok. I’m pretty sure we still have that cherry compote I really like. Or do you prefer just water?”

“Compote’s fine” Gerard says relieved and watches Frank disappear into the kitchen again. He can’t believe how smoothly that went and he’s very proud of himself. He smiles as a full pitcher lands in front of him. Frank serves him, before he can even think.

“Thank you.”

Frank looks curious, but he doesn’t say anything.

“I’m an alcoholic” Gerard decides to say. “I’ve been sober for almost six years now. I just thought you should know.”

“You had strong motivation, huh?” Frank guesses, and doesn’t seem outraged like most people, especially since he has a kid. “Can I ask you something?”  
Gerard nods.

“Uhm. What happened to Chloe’s mom?”

That’s not exactly the most fun topic he can think of, but Frank deserved to know, he thinks. “It was not her thing, I guess.”  
Frank looks surprised. “What, motherhood?”

“I didn’t know her that well, we weren’t even a couple. I’m assuming the idea of being a parent was too overwhelming for her. I mean, she didn’t really try. She disappeared from hospital the day after Chloe was born.”

“It sounds horrible.”

“It sort of was for a 24 year old guy who still lived in his parents basement and whose biggest source of entertainment was vodka” Gerard tries to shrug it off, but maybe it’s still too soon or maybe he will never get over it.

“But it turned out really well for both you” Frank says and reaches for his hand. 

“Yeah. Yeah, it did” Gerard admits and smiles. “What about you?”

“That’s even more complicated” he laughs, but it sounds oddly empty. “When I was 6 years old I met this fantastic girl at the playground” he begins and Gerard can’t help but laugh and he scores a kick in his ankle because for it. “Shut up. I did. Her name was Jamia and for the bigger part of my life my world revolved around her. And we were going to get married, but it turned out I was gay and she neither had a cock or liked them.”

“That sucks.”

“It really fucking did. Anyway. Even though she was the most amazing creature on Earth in the history of forever, she didn’t really have that much luck with love. Or actually any chick deserved her, but that’s not the case. And she really wanted to be a mom, you know? And naturally she needed sperm for that and since I was her best friend, she asked me to be a dad.”  
Gerard’s eyes instantly become wide and Frank laughs out loud. “Oh, everyone thought we were insane, but when you think about it, it was actually a really good idea, because as the bestest of friends, there were zero chances of us fighting and splitting up. So Rosie was meant to spend five days at Jamia’s and two at mine’s. As I said, a perfect deal. Except it wasn’t, because we didn’t know she had a cancer.”

Gerard completely doesn’t expect to hear that and he freezes, unable to say a word.

“She passed away when Rosie was only a month old” he says and looks away. Gerard squeezes his fingers tightly, incapable to think of something proper to say.

“It’s not exactly okay, but at least we had some time to make arrangements, talk everything through and say goodbye. You can imagine, I didn’t have much time for grief” he smiles weakly. “Don’t think that there’s something you should say, because there really isn’t.”  
Gerard nods, but doesn’t let go of Frank’s hand. They just stay like that for a couple of long moments. 

“Do you wanna go to mine after we finish?” Frank asks suddenly. “Rosie’s at my moms. We could watch movies or do whatever you like. If you want.”

Gerard doesn’t really consider no as an option.

*

When he walks into Frank’s apartment, he’s even more surprised than he was with the restaurant. From someone who is covered in tattoos, has a sort of Mohawk and screams dirty and loud, he’d expected a place that reflected the look. 

However the first word Gerard can think of is organized, even though Frank apologizes for the mess. 

“I’ll go make coffee, ok?”

“Sure” Gerard nods eagerly, even though it’s pretty late.

“You can go explore, if you want” Frank calls from the kitchen. “Pick up a movie or something.”

The place is not exactly free from furniture, but everything looks neat and like it has its special place (well, except for the baby bed, but he guesses it’s only temporally). There is a massive bookcase (or actually several of them), which cover entire wall, and Gerard is mesmerized, because every book he can think of is there. There are also several pictures, most of a pretty girl with a contagious smile and black hair. He guesses it’s Jamia and his stomach tightens when he realizes what she and Frank were. In one picture she’s on a hospital bed, holding tiny baby in her arms that must be Rosie.

“You found movies?” Frank shouts from his kitchen and it snaps Gerard out of his thoughts. He scans the bookcase and locates collection of movies sat at the bottom.

“Yeah. Oh, Chloe’s gonna worship you for Toy Story!”

Frank laughs on his way to the living room, almost spilling their coffee.

“I’ve actually already told her you’re a Toy Story type of guy, it’s the only way to convince her someone is ok.”

“Cool” Frank smiles. “But maybe we could watch Edward Scissorhands instead.”

“Oh yeah, you can’t go wrong with Burton.”

Frank puts the DVD into the player and sits on the couch along with Gerard. It’s only their second meeting, so Gerard doesn’t really know what is appropriate at this point and what is not, but Frank doesn’t seem to care. Gerard won’t complain, because having Frank’s head on his lap is quite pleasant and his hair is surprisingly soft under his fingertips.

“You know, Mikey set up my profile, because he thought I was missing something in my life” Gerard says suddenly and Frank turns to face him. “I don’t think I’d have noticed if I didn’t meet you.”

He doesn’t know what else he could expect, but Frank’s smile is very comforting.

“That’s probably the cheesiest thing I’ve ever said.”

“Cheesy is good. Sometimes.”

Gerard nods. “Also I didn’t declare my undying love for you or anything, I barely know you.”

Frank laughs loudly, sitting up. “Ouch, now you’ve ruined it.”

Gerard is trying to come back with something witty, but he doesn’t get a chance because Frank’s mouth is blocking his. It’s a short kiss, they pull back pretty quick to look at each other. Frank puts his fingers into Gerard’s hair and smiles.

Gerard thinks that Frank has the most heart-grasping smile on Earth and he’s incapable of taking it any longer so he leans in for another kiss. Soon he realizes it’s not like the one before at all and Frank basically climbs on Gerard’s lap and keeps kissing him. His tongue slides in, re-discovers all the sensitive spots Gerard’s forgotten he had and grasps his hair very tightly. His back is pinned to the couch and his chest pressed up with Franks, but it’s not quite enough, so he encircles his arms around Frank’s waist. He can’t help but pout a little, when Frank pulls back.

An uncontrollable giggle escapes his mouth and Gerard soon follows.

He thinks he will need for the next time Mikey fucks something up, to have an excuse to kill him, but surely he gets away with this one.


End file.
